I need some GB wisdom. Son has made it 3 1/2 weeks without smoking but he is still coughing up yukky stuff. He has asked me several times how long he should expect that to go on, but I never smoked and have no idea.

Hubby quit quite a few years back, so he doesn't remember. I assume the answer will be specific to each individual, but I do think there is a general guideline. I just don't know what it is.

Do any of you guys who quit remember how long it took with you (or perhaps you never did cough up phlem)?

Thanks

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"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." -Roger Caras

It depends on how much tar is on the cilias (sp). It can take months to get it all out as they clean up. After he stops coughing it all up he will notice a drastic improvement in lung function. Kudos to him for quitting.

What Ana said... he won't stop coughing it all up until it's gone. Plus, his cilia are getting used to working properly again instead of being coated with tar.

Ghostlady has a Facebook page with a lot of information and links on it which she created when she quit smoking after 40 years. I don't know if it addresses this issue, but I know there is a lot of good information there.

Thanks guys will pass that on to him. I don't really know how much he smoked as he never smoked in my presence, and I didn't buy his cigarettes for him. I'll pass on the info though. He doesn't want to have pneumonia and not go to the doctor because he thought his coughing was from stopping smoking, or not go if he should. Sounds like it's normal.

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"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." -Roger Caras

It is definitely normal. My husband complained to me for 6 months that he felt worse quitting and that he was going to start again because of all the coughing. I did not cough and I was a heavy smoker, hubby smoked less than me and coughed a lot.

Oh, I see where GL said that when you change a habit or create a new good habit to replace an old bad habit, it creates a new brain wave. How does this work?

And I've heard of people that have an explosive disorder (intermittent explosive disorder) when their shrink orders an EEG test on them (done with flashing strobe lamp) their brain waves are at first normal during the test, but then their brain waves start going abnormal - and I believe this explosive disorder is just another bad habit like smoking, and both of them are dangerous, one can kill you (cancer) and one can ruin your life (jailbird, police record, jail time history), so if the person with the explosive disorder changes how they respond to events/control their emotions (like quitting smoking) does anyone know how their abnormal brainwaves will change into normal brainwaves?

Cruise, I believe that one learns to control certain things. For instance, my son was diagnosed with OPD when he was younger, which to me meant "I want what I want when I want it."

Now as an adult, he has learned that exploding about every little thing is counterproductive to having a roof over his head and being able to provide for his children. So he doesn't explode any more. But that was a choice He had to make. No amount of reasoning could make it for him.

So I believe that when you practice new ways of looking at things and reactions to things, the brain rewrites itself (like new code for a computer.)

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"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." -Roger Caras